Ugh. Truly horrible. I have an article somewhere that describes why 'vestments for women' are universally horrible. Has to do with the feminist idea of destroying the male-dominated hegemony/hierarcy of the church...part of it is to desecrate the liturgical space by wearing vestments that are so individualistic. When I find it, I'll send it to you.

Honestly, it looks like some well-meaning church lady with a sewing machine and no sense of liturgy made it, the sort of thing that we've all had to wear at one point or another because the nice church lady made it.

Maybe it's just me, but when the well-meaning sewing member of the congregation makes such a vestment, shouldn't one thank her kindly, show it off to her family and friends, maybe even to those who get a tour of the sacristy/vestry, and then never ever wear it in a public service of worship? BTW, the miter is the lesser of the two problems with this photograph.

Naah. You have to wear it at least once. I've made it a practice in whatever new church I go to to be very clear that any and all liturgical vestments or paraments planned need to be sketched out and approved by me before construction begins. Saves a lot of grief later.

That's what Father does in our parish. He's made pretty clear what his standards are: regarding the church's "rose" vestment for Laetare Sunday, for example, he has been known to comment that "Father does not wear the Barbie outfit."

We have lots of seamstresses in our parish. They're falling over each other to make Father vestments he actually likes and will wear (not to mention processional canopies and other items). I really think that people by and large do not want to make dreck. They just sometimes have to be shown what isn't.

I should add that Father DOES wear rose vestments -- he borrowed a gorgeous fiddleback set from some friend for the past year's Advent and Lent, and a parishioner is working on something similar for the upcoming year.

Indeed. Once the seamstresses are shown what good taste/good vestments are, and are given guidance and instruction booklets (Thank you Alcuin Society) they are generally able to make passably acceptable vestments and paraments. Honestly, I'd rather that than spending vast sums for commerciallly made items. There are plenty of pictures of GREAT vestments and paraments online, that most people who sew can duplicate with great skill.

Hmmm. Bad vestments equal women priest/ministers/pastors in general are bad? Where is the logic? Where is the grace? Where is the understanding of call/vocation? Maybe, completely buried under the misogyny. And, "I have a few women priests as friends" doesn't count as enlightenment--even Christian enlightenment--as our friends of color know all too well.

WHY WE'RE HERE

This site is dedicated to subjecting particularly awful Christian liturgical vestments or church decorations to the ridicule they so richly deserve. Contributions are welcome and can be e-mailed to websterglobe at juno dot com.